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Family Social Science is a multidisciplinary department committed to the generation and application of knowledge that enhances family functioning and well-being in diverse family settings. Scholarship is organized around four themes: Families and Diversity, Families and Economic Well-Being, Families and Mental Health, Families Across the Life Span, and Parent and Family Education. Research, teaching and outreach activities encompass a wide range of social, economic, and political issues that affect families locally, nationally, globally.

The mission of the Department of Family Consumer Science is to promote the well-being of people and the enrichment of quality environments, and to prepare men and women to assume essential professional roles in a rapidly changing, culturally diverse, global society.

The programs in Child and Family Studies are designed to prepare individuals for professional roles working with young children, parents, and families in a variety of settings. CFS students may obtain licensure in Early Childhood Education -Birth-Grade 3 at the undergraduate level, Early Childhood Special Education, and Parent Education at the graduate level. The department believes that children should be studied within the context of their family and community. The department combines the study of early childhood and early childhood special education, parent education and family studies in an integrated manner. This allows networking of professionals in different practice areas and a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding children and families. This integration of students from different areas is unique and is a widely recognized strength of the department.

The substantive focus of sociology at the University of Minnesota is to clarify the implications of stability and change within a framework of social action. The intent is to join the rich social scientific understandings of social and individual dynamics with wider issues of public concern. The vision informing our mission is of a proactive civic sociology, which draws attention to significant social issues and responds to the interests of the wider society. This vision of civic sociology is central to the future of the discipline and the departments educational mission. The department is committed to moving its concern with action and change across its multiple activities in education, in research, and in service. The department has seven primary areas of emphasis: Demography & Population Studies; Global, Transnational, & Comparative Sociology; Inequalities & Identities: Race, Gender, Sexuality, Class, Religion, & Nation; Law, Crime, Punishment, & Social Control; Life Course: Family, Education, & Well-being; Theory, Knowledge, & Culture; Work, Organizations, & Networks

The faculty in the Department of Child and Family Studies are experienced practitioners who understand the fields of Family Life Education and the many avenues of involvement and professional practice. Their experience includes teaching the early childhood and child-care settings, working as family life educators, directing programs and schools, serving as professional church workers in educational and parish settings, and practicing as marriage and family therapists. This faculty experience brings a breadth of knowledge and practice that enables each instructor to mentor and facilitate learning with a focus on real-life solutions to real-life problems informed by theory and research.

The primary focus of this program is to prepare students to function in the role of marriage and family specialists and to do so with strong Biblical and theological understanding of the need for and implications of this role in the ministry of the church. This role could be practiced as a specialist in family ministries within a church setting, in a parish-based counseling practice or other kinds of parachurch or pastoral counseling agencies, in a secular community mental health center, or in other treatment settings requiring family expertise.

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFT's) are mental health professionals trained in psychotherapy and family systems, and licensed to diagnose and treat mental and emotional disorders within the context of marriage, couples and family systems. Marriage and family therapists treat a wide range of serious clinical problems including: depression, marital problems, anxiety, individual psychological problems and child-parent problems. Marriage and family therapists take a holistic perspective to health care; they are concerned with the overall long-term well-being of individuals and their families.

Capella understands your goals to become a licensed marriage and family therapist. That’s why we created a flexible, online master’s degree in marriage and family counseling/therapy. Accredited by COAMFTE and CACREP, this program features a combination of online education and face-to-face experiences to help prepare you to pursue state licensure eligibility. You will learn to apply family systems theories and systemic clinical therapeutic techniques to address a wide range of relationship issues including the diagnosis and treatment of mental and emotional disorders and problems within the family system.

THIS INSTITUTION IS CLOSED. The program introduces students to basic skills that integrate systemic theorietical foundations of marriage and family therapy into appropriate client interaction and intervention skills.

Areas of Study

Therapy (Couples, Marriage, or Family) - Doctoral

Therapy (Couples, Marriage, or Family) - Master's

Last Updated

January 1, 2009

The discipline of Family Science is vibrant and growing. Visit Family.Science to learn more.